Adjustable and folding chair



(N0 Modl.)

W. B. WHITE, ADJUSTABLE AND FOLDING CHAIR;

N0.515,387. PatentedPeb. Z7,1894.

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Q'T ATES kiln NITED WILLIAM B. WHITE, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN.

ADJUSTABLE AND FOLDING CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 515,387, dated February 27, 1894.

Application filed March 31, 1893. Serial No. 468,612. (No model.) I 7 T0 on whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. WHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at J ackson, in the county of Jackson and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable and Folding Chairs; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in adjustable and folding chairs, and it consists in a certain construction and arrangement of parts as hereinafter fully set forth, the essential features of which being pointed out particularly in the claims.

The objects of the invention are to provide a simple, light and durable chair, that may be readily adjusted from an erectto a reclining position, and in which the construction is such as to render the parts self locking, and also enable the seat or body of the chair to be folded entirely within the dimensions of the back thereof, to reduce the bulk of the chair to the minimum, and render the same more conveniently portable.

To this end my invention consists in the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a chair embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section thereof. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the chair in afolded position. Fig. 4 is a central vertical section on dotted line 44 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a central longitudinal section through the leg and adjusting roller, on dotted line 55 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a transverse section through same, on line 66 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the letters of reference, A is the back of the chair, which consists of the parallel side rails to a. located at suitable distance apart and connected at their upper and lower ends respectively by the parallel rungs I) Z).

B, B are forwardly inclined legs which are connected at their upper ends by the rung c. The ends of said rung are provided with tenons c that pass through the ends of said legs and also enter the inner faces of the rails a a of the back, at a point slightly above the rung 5 5 1) thereof, (see Fig. 3,) whereby said back and legs are hinged upon the rung c and adapted to swing toward each other, the reverse movement of the back being limited by the engagement of the rung 1) thereof with the legs B, which forms a stop and support for said back, see (Figs. 1 and 2.)

O O are rearwardly inclined legs which are located between the legs B B and are pivoted centrally thereto by means of suitable bolts or rivets d, as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2. The upper and lower ends of the legs 0 O are connected respectively by the rungs e c, which serve to brace the body of the chair against lateral strain.

D D are keyhole-shaped openings formed in the opposed faces of the legs 0 0 near the upper ends thereof, the angular portions of said openings extend in parallel line toward the upper end of said legs, see Figs. 5 and 6.

E is the adjusting roller having the elongated or flat-sided tenons ff formed on the ends thereof. The width of said tenons is slightly less than the diameters of the annular portions of theopenings D, while the thickness of said tenons is equal to the width of the reduced or angular portions of said openings and fit snugly therein, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, in which position said roller is locked from rotation. 8 F is a strip of carpet or other suitable fabric, which is secured to the upper rung b of the back of the chair and extending downward passes between the rungs ob and thence under the rung b outward to the rung e and around said rung to the roller E, upon which the surplus of the fabric is wound, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The tenons on the ends of said roller, when being rotated to wind or unwind the fabric, revolve in the annular 5 portions of the keyhole-openings, and when shifted into engagement with the angular portions thereof, lock said roller from further movement and by the tension on the fabric, the chair is prevented from collapsing and ICC the roller retained in its locked position. The desired adjustment of the chair may be readily effected by shifting the roller to bring the tenons into the annular portions of the keyhole-openings, when it may be rotated to wind or unwind the fabric and thus raise or lower the seat and back of the chair, as will be readily understood. The fabricF in width is as much less than that of the chair back as the combined thickness of the legs B 0, whereby the open spaces h h are formed between the edges of said fabric and the rails a a, of the back, and into said spaces the legs of the chair are adapted to be folded; after first being swung into parallel line upon their central pivots, as shown in Fig. 3, and by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The slack in the fab ric produced by the folding of the legs may be taken up upon the roller, as shown in Fig. 4, and thus the several parts of the chair when folded are contained entirely within the dimensions of the back and when unfolded may be readily and conveniently adjusted and locked in the desired position.

Having thus fully set forth my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an adjustable folding chair, the con1- bination of the pivoted legs having their upper ends connected by cross rungs, the back hinged upon one of said rungs and having its upper and lower ends connected by cross rungs, the strip of fabric connected to the upper rung of said back and extending down in front of the rear upper rung of the legs,

' thence around under the lower rung of said bination of the back having the cross rungs at the upper and lower ends thereof, the legs hinged at their upper ends to said back above the lower rung thereof, the cross legs pivoted centrally to said hinged legs and having their ends connected by cross rungs, the roller journaled in the upper ends of said cross legs, the strip of fabric attached to the upper rung of said back and extending under the lower rung thereof over the upper rung of said cross legs and around said roller, and means for locking said roller from rotation, substantially as specified.

3. In an adjustable folding chair, the combination of the back having the cross rungs connecting the upper and lower ends thereof,

the legs having a rung connecting their upper ends, the back hinged upon said rung, the cross legs pivoted centrally to the hinged legs and having rungs connecting the ends thereof, the key-hole shaped openings formed -in the corresponding faces of said legs, the

roller having flat sided tenons on the ends thereof adapted to be rotated and; shifted in 

